16 September 2020

Colours!

Colours are an integral part of our lives. They surround us from dawn ‘till dusk; when crossing the street at the green light, looking up at the sky to predict the weather, watching the sunset, or simply when decorating our lives, colours are just everywhere! They often stir up emotions and allow us to express ourselves. Coloured stones spark curiosity and passion. In short, what would life be without colours?

What’s most fascinating about colour is that it depends on one single thing: light. Without light there would be no colours. It is the light frequency that our eyes and brain interpret as distinct colours. Light frequency is the number of waves per second.

The human eye detects wavelengths of 400 nm (purple) up to 700 nm (red) of the electromagnetic spectrum. These wavelengths correspond to the visible spectrum.

Seeing a colour results from light being transformed by a material. In the case of gems, a selective absorption of light often is what dictates its colour. The material contains different trace elements and it absorbs either some or all of the wavelengths. The residual energy is then translated by the brain and the colour is interpreted.

It is not hard to perceive a colour. However, communicating a colour can be much more of a challenge. There are the basic, relatively simple colours like blue, red and yellow. We can add adjectives to them and they’ll become dark blue, pale yellow, or bright red. Sometimes it is easier to refer to certain objects to describe a colour, as in lemon yellow, lime green, cherry red, etc. Our brain instantly sees the colour.

In other cases, we use the stones’ origin to describe their colour. It is the case with Thai sapphires, Muzo emeralds, Burmese rubies or Paraibas tourmalines.

Some colours can be perceived differently from person to person. Often, those are a mix of colours; like teal, for instance, which is a mixture of blue and green or peach, which is a mixture of pink and yellow.

But does teal have more blue or green? Is peach more pink or yellow?

We asked the question to our 3,000 followers on Instagram and discussed the results with Katinka Champion *, colour expert. You can still answer the Colour Quiz in our ’highlights’ on Instagram.

Pêche  

The peach colour consists of yellow, orange and often pink. But several factors can be taken into account in the perception of this colour.

“As one’s eyes age they can develop a yellow filtering effect on one’s vision, so depending on what stage of life you are in, you might view a yellow-orange colour to be more yellow then it truly is. If your eyes perceive more yellow in a peach hue, it makes the colour less ‘peachy’. All these nuances need to be kept in mind when judging colour, or when requesting a ‘Peach’ coloured gem for a customer.’’

Katinka Champion 

Up tp 63% of people answered that the gemstone A, a morganite, most closely matched the colour peach.

It is interesting to note that stone B, a sapphire, received 22.5% of the votes while 12.5% said that A and B best described this colour. Thus, over 97% of the votes go for A and B. Most people consider the peach colour to contain a significant amount of pink! Sapphires, morganites, spinels, malaya garnets or some imperial topazes are all good examples of durable stones in these shades.

Teal

In French, this colour is called bleu canard or sarcelle. It refers to the mix of the green and blue reflections that we see on a duck's neck. Therefore, it is a mixture of colours rather than a set colour.

“To help define the colour ‘teal’ more accurately, one should probably accompany the hue with a modifier like ‘blue’ or ‘green’. Most people have a preconceived colour in their mind of what the colour Teal should look like to them. This colour in their mind’s eye is most likely based on their life experiences with this elusive colour.’’

- Katinka Champion

She goes on explaining that certain life experiences can shape our perception of colours. For example, a young girl that bought a dress described as teal by the salesman. From then on, the exact shade of this dress would match the teal colour for her, the experience having planted the seed and unconsciously created a memory link to that exact shade.

In our quiz, the stones were all Montana or Australian sapphires. Almost 24% of the respondents answered that the colour of gemstone B most closely matched the colour teal. Colours D, B and F received 20%, 17% and 15% of the votes respectively. Only 4% of people said that E was the closest match to teal and 1.50% said A was the right colour.

We think that Montana sapphires and Australian sapphires are stones that represent the colour teal most accurately. The blue, yellow and green sections on them create reflections that remind us of those seen on ducks, as referred to in French

Lavender

According to Katinka, “lavender is another colour like teal, that is very subjective; it is difficult to capture all the floral subtleties in one perceived hue. Its light purple tint can range from a very pale pastel purple to more saturated ‘floral lavender’ with a hint of pink or blue in either version. Lavender Tanzanite, Sapphire, and Spinel all can reflect these captivating hues back at the viewer.’’

Colours C (spinels) and D (light tanzanites) received 33% and 31.5% of the votes respectively while the combination of C and D got 11.5% of the votes. As a result, the vast majority of respondents find that these two pastel shades are the most representative of the colour lavender.

How to communicate colours

How can a colour be described over the phone or by email? There are several colour gradation systems that help communicate colours. However, it is essential that the people involved use the same system; which doesn't happen very often!

At one point, GIA had marketed a tool called Gem Set: a set of coloured "spoons" representing 324 colours of stones. Stone traders could then get in touch with one another from various parts of the world and share with each other references of desired colours. Unfortunately, this system has not been produced ever since the early 2000s and it is now rarely used.

Image : GIA Gemset

It has been replaced by another system called Gemewizard. This system allows the communication of more than 1000 colours. The problem with Gemewizard is that it is online and not all monitors are calibrated the same regarding colour! Other systems like World of Colours are also used by appraisers.

Image : Gemewizard

It will always be difficult to describe a colored stone or gemstone as it reflects a mix of colours and hues. A colored stone is best described using the base colour, saturation and tint. For example, a light grayish blue or a very saturated orangy yellow. The wonderful thing about the world of coloured gemstones is that we will always find one that will match the colour and shade you want!

*Katinka Champion, AOCA is a Toronto-based freelance colour forecaster, professional graphic designer, photo art director, and colour gemstone fanatic. She is an active Colour Marketing Group (CMG) ChromaZone participant who joined CMG in the mid-’90s where her passion for colour was ignited while collaborating in workshops to help develop the international association’s ever-evolving palettes. She can be contacted via email at katinka@championphoto.com, or reached on Instagram at @gemcolorida.